Spring Tease

How glorious has this weather been!  I cannot get enough of the sunshine and semi-balmy temps.  Cody, the boys and I have been spending as much time outside as we can!  This huge red ball has been a favorite the past few days.  It's almost as big as Cole.  Yesterday Jon and Brit stopped by with their little girls and we just sat on the porch and visited while the kids ran all over the yard.  It was great to see them and it felt SO good to sit in the sun.  I can't wait for Spring!

This past week has just flown by, just like the month of February.  Can you believe that it's almost March?  On Saturday I went to see the Thrillionaires show and it was awesome.  All the founders performed a 1950's romantic comedy and it did not disappoint!  Does it ever?  I'm SO glad Amelia saved me a seat - the place was packed.  The show was sold out!  I'm performing in a show this Saturday night, so get your tickets and get there early!  

Sunday we had dinner with my family at Marty and Jessica's.  Dinner was scrumptious, I couldn't stop eating.  Great job, Jess!  After dinner, Marty entertained the kids with bubbles.  Aren't they just the most magical thing?  The kids loved them.

Our house is still for sale.  Still.  We have people come look at it, but no bites.  At this point I'm just leaving it up to the Lord.  There is a reason we haven't sold, so I'm doing my best to trust that there is a plan.  I know one day we'll be sitting on the porch of our new house and say, "It all worked out, everything fell into place".   It's discouraging at times, but we are making the best of it!  We love this house and love our neighborhood.  It will be hard to leave.  In the meantime we are going to plan things as if we are staying for a while.  I mean, we might as well live it up while we're here, right?  No reason to just sit idly by waiting for a buyer.  It will happen when it's supposed to!  We have plans for the yard and we are going to make some changes around the house.  I'll keep you posted on updates!

Surprise Party

Last night the kids got together and threw a family surprise party for my Mom - she had NO idea, thanks to the clever tactics of my Dad.  We all gathered at Marty and Jessica's, set out the cake and presents, taped up many crepe paper streamers and waited in the darkness for the Birthday girl to arrive.  Just look at that spread!  Mmm, thanks Jess, it was all so delish.  You may notice the paper "mummy" lamp - that was from Marty and Jess in hopes that my Mom can turn it into a mummy for Halloween!  (See?  Always thinking of the spookiness, always planning ahead).  As soon as we said "Surprise!" and began to sing Happy Birthday, my sweet Mom got a wee bit teary and she took the moment in.  

The reveal!

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Rich and Randi

Jess and Marty

I. Love. My. Mom.  I've been sitting here for 5 minutes trying to put into words how amazing she is, and I'm at a loss!  Everyone who meets my Mom instantly falls in love with her.  She truly is one of the most incredible people in my life - she is wise and brilliant and talented.  She has taught me SO many things, one of them being that I know Albertsons like the back of my hand.  She is artistic, loving and the heart of our family.  To my sweet Mama, I hope you know how much I adore and admire you -  Happy Birthday!! 

Lovely

How was your weekend?  On Friday we had the fire crew over for homemade pizza, cupcakes and a movie.  It was a blast, as usual!  The pizzas were SO yummy and it was fun to hang out.  We watched "Music and Lyrics", the girls pretty much had to force the boys to watch it, but whatevs.  I think all the men were moved by Hugh Grant's blue eyes (don't deny it....)

Saturday Cody and I went to lunch, did a wee bit of shopping (I bought some white jeans....oh, yes) and then went to see "He's Just Not That Into You"...which I was just not that into.  I had such high hopes for that movie!  It was ok...just not great, oh well.  That night I had a Thrillionaires show which was SOLD OUT!!  The show was great and afterwards I came home and found these glorious roses on the table, along with a huge mess in the kitchen where Cody and Cache were decorating cookies.  Mmm, sugar.  The perfect end to Valentines Day!

Then last night Amelia, Tanya and I got together for some dinner and American Idol.  SO great!  We haven't had a girls night in a while, it was excellent.  We were laughing SO hard....good times.  Sadly, Amelia had to rush home to attend to some sick kids before AI, so Tanya and I settled in to critique with Cody.  Here we are reacting to some questionable tunes...

Today is my Mom's Birthday!  I cannot do my normal tribute post for reasons that will be disclosed tomorrow, but check back for a grand post about my wonderful mother whom I love so, so dearly.  

Happy Valentines Day!

Ahh, Le Love.  I love Valentines Day - I love all Holidays, it's true, but I have a special place in my heart for this one (cliche?).  The best part is that I get to spend today with my sweetheart.  We are going to spend the day together, just him and me.  We started the day with heart-shaped pancakes and we're about to make some cookies with the boys.  Yeah, I'm aware how cheesy that sounds just typing it out...'tis the day for gooey overload!  I hope you have a marvelous day full of kisses.  Happy Valentines Day!!

Vegas Vacay

Last weekend was SO much fun!  Many thanks to my Mom and sisters for putting up with my last minute plans - one day I was talking to Jess about how much fun it would be to take a trip to Vegas with the girls...and a week later we were loaded up in the car and on our way!

We arrived late Thursday night and visited a bit before heading off to bed.  On Friday we did much shopping and ate at the yummiest restaurant.  Here is Jess and I engaged in some casual conversation...

Andrea and Randi (Rich's sassy girl).

Eating our YUMMY desserts.

A window full of condoms?  You bet.

We shopped until the sun went down and ended the evening with PF Changs and lots of laughter.  Saturday we shopped more and ate more.  When we got back in the late afternoon I was able to meet up with Sara!  We are staying at her new house for the Girl's Trip this year and she gave me the grand tour.  It's gorgeous, and I love me some Sara.

Before dinner we found time to squeeze in some pedicures.  This was my first time.  I know.  See friends, my feet are ridiculously ticklish and the thought of someone having their way with my footsies makes me twinge.  Do see the fear in my eyes??  Alas, my worries were unfounded.  It was great!  I only flinched a few times...promise.

After our pedi's we went out for some pizza, then came home in the mood for some crafting.  Andrea had made a super cute Valentine's Day box in the shape of a heart and then decorated it, so of course we ALL had to have one, right?  It was about 10:00pm when we got started.  Um, I don't recommend this.  We were all kinds of punchy and there may or may not have been some expletives uttered during our crafting project.  It was so much fun, though.  A great way to wrap up the trip!

I love these girls so much, thanks again Andrea for letting us invade your weekend.  Perhaps we need to plan a March getaway...

Blogaversary!

BC Fans! Today marks the two year anniversary of my dear little blog. It's been two years of trivial dribble and oh, how I adore having this little outlet. Much love is owed to you for humoring me by checking my blog and leaving fun comments - I know there are a lot of you out there who come by, look around, read a bit, then continue on with other blog perusals - but today I encourage you to leave a comment in honor of this special occasion! Don't worry, I won't make you come out of hiding forever - just drop a quick line, I would love it.
Happy Anniversary, lovely Blonde Canary Blog!

Lunch Ladies

Yesterday I went to lunch with Kelli and Rosey - we had a complete blast!  Rosey lives in Salt Lake and I hardly get to see her - she called and told me she was in town for a few days and suggested that we kidnap Kelli and have lunch together.  We ate at Burger Supreme (always SO delish) and chatted for a bit before Kelli had to get back to work.  We all used to work together and I miss those days so much!  Rosey and I ended up sitting in Kelli's office for another two hours talking...yep.  

Love these girls.   We're planning on having a 'Twilight DVD' party when it comes out.  Don't judge me.  I'm so excited!!

Later that evening I was messing around on Facebook (aka: TimeWarp) and saw that my friend Mari was online.  She is in my ward and we recently bonded - love her.  We chatted for a few minutes and discovered that her house is RIGHT BEHIND MINE.  What?  How could we have not known that??  We each walked on our back decks and talked across our yards for a few minutes - we both thought we lived farther apart.  When we're at our computers we can see each other - her window is right there.  See?

Mari

Me

Yep.  We're nerds.  We totally took pictures of each other through the windows.  Guess I can't dance naked anymore at night.  Haha!  I'm kidding!  I'll still do that.  Anyway, we chatted for another hour and made all kinds of plans for the coming weeks (you heard me, Mari - weeks!  We have lots of stuff to pack in!).  She's so great - maybe we should build a fort that spans over both our yards?

Now I must sign off so I can get ready to leave town.  Oh, yes!  I'm off to Vegas!  I'm headed down for the weekend to see my sister and I am SO stoked.  I'm driving down with my Mom, Jess and Randi.  There will be much laughing, eating and little sleeping.  How great is that?  I'm off to pack - Viva Las Vegas!

TAC Thrillionaires Show

When I was in High School, our drama class got to go to a 3 day acting convention called the "Theater Arts Conference".  We went to various workshops, saw some plays and honed our 'craft'.  Basically, we got to miss school and hang out with our friends whilst checking out boys from other High Schools.  My friends and I dubbed this "The Festivention".   I LOVED the Festivention, we had such a great time when we went.

Fast forward 15 years - Hailey asked me a few weeks ago if I would be willing to perform a musical with the Thrillionaires for the TAC.  At first, I had no idea what the TAC stood for.  I was just told that it would be a show for a bunch of High School students and that we would take some questions afterwards.  Sounded fun!  The show was at Weber State and Cody was able to come with me.  Once we got there I asked Maclain, "Ok, what is this exactly?"  When he started to explain it to me I realized that it was, indeed, the Festivention!  Wha?  I have come full circle - I am performing at the Festivention.

Sound Check

After our mic check we were told that there were hundreds of kids waiting to see our show and that once we hit the stage, it would feel like "when the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show...".  When they announced our names, we walked onto the stage to find about 500 kids cheering and screaming!  It was CRAZY!  I felt like a Beatle.  I felt like Bon Jovi.  I felt like a Rock Star.  It was awesome.  The theater was massive and it was packed.  Our musical was hilarious and the kids were SO responsive - they laughed and clapped all the way through it.  When we finished the show they gave us a standing ovation for about 3 minutes.  No lie, it was the coolest thing ever!  

We took some questions after the show and one kid asked me,

"What's your name?"

"Julia..."

"Who are you married to?"

Uh, random.  But since Cody was there, I replied..

"To that handsome FireFighter right over there!"

Cody stood up and waved as everybody cheered.  

Then the boy said, "He's the luckiest guy in the world!"

How cute is that?  We then told everyone that they could come up and ask us questions as they left the theater.  My adoring fan shouted, "I love you, Julia!" and ran up to give me a hug.  Cute.  One girl asked if I was a professional singer, one asked if we went to college to learn how to improvise (wha?).  These kids were completely blown away and it was so rad to have them come up and hug us or shake our hands - I was so touched by how appreciative they were.

Matt, Me, Maclain, Brigham and Bob after the show

When we left the theater, kids would stop us or yell out, "Great show!"  It was a great experience and I hope I can do it again next year!